


Leo's life is a mess

by BlueslittleOrange



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: BabyMichelangelo, LeonardoisMichelangelo'sfather, Mpreg, Multi, TheshredderisLeonardo'sfather
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 19:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30043518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueslittleOrange/pseuds/BlueslittleOrange
Summary: Oroku- Tang Leonardo was born into the Foot clan, the son to Oroku Saki and Tang Mai. Two years ago, after turning sixteen he abandoned the Foot and everything he had been taught to join the Hamato clan. After meeting a new turtle on the rooftops, Leonardo was captured and just like his mother he'd been experimented on. Now, he has more to deal with than just his father's stupid vendetta.
Relationships: Donatello/Raphael (TMNT), Leonardo/OC
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is fanfiction. If you don't like Mpreg or the idea of Leonardo being Michelangelo's father then please naff off rather than being mean.
> 
> I do not own the rights to the Adolescent Humanoid Warrior Terrapins.

"Finally home." The turtles cheered weekly as they staggered into the lair. They could rest at last now that they had made it home. After such a brutal battle against the Foot clan, the three turtles were battered and bruised, tired and barely able to walk. They were lucky to be alive.  
  
Raphael had been the one to take the brunt of the attacks, protecting his younger brother.  
  
While Donatello and Raphael collapsed on the couch, Leonardo took his seat on the steps outside of the lair after letting the younger turtles go. He pulled his knees to his chin, holding himself. Guilt weighed heavy on his shoulders, he blamed himself for this, for everything but no one else did.  
  
Oroku-Tang Leonardo had originally been born into the Foot clan, his father being the Shredder who he had betrayed, leaving everything he had ever known and everything he had been raised for behind. Tears filled Leo's eyes as he held his mask between his fingers, stroking the fabric. It was in two pieces after the Shredder had ripped it from his face, marking a permanent symbol of the betrayal he felt toward his son across his right eye.  
  
"Gah!" Raph suddenly shrieked, snapping Leo out of his thoughts. He turned his head slightly to see Donnie popping the hothead's shoulder back in to place, "-warn a guy next time." He grunted, rolling his shoulder.  
  
"My sons!" master Splinter cried upon seeing his children hurt and covered in various injuries. He carried a tub of water with him, some towels, packs of ice and the first aid kit, a suggestion Donatello had called ahead for. Immediately, he began to tend his son's wounds; cleaning them, stitching and wrapping them.  
  
Donnie waved his father off, directing him to his brother instead. "My injuries aren't so bad. Raph's the one that really needs tending to."

  
  
Leo listened in the distance with a heavy heart. He had sworn to Splinter that he would protect Donnie and Raph as if they were blood. He rubbed his mask which he held tight, this was his symbol of his failure. "Leo, are you hurt?" Donnie called to Leo, only now had he realised that the leader hadn't made it inside and was sat out on the stoop, "-his father was there. They fought again." The genius explained to his father who had lifted his head, "Shredder struck him and tore his mask off."  
  
Splinter nodded and entrusted the rest of Raphael's patching up to Donatello.  
  
"Leonardo?" Splinter resting his hand on Leo's carapace. The scorned turtle jumped at the touch of a warm hand, he lifted his head to see Splinter sitting himself down beside him, holding out a new mask to the young leader, another thing Donnie had called ahead for, "Not many would choose the path you have. Following against your heritage is never easy."  
  
Resting his head back on his knees, Leo looked longingly into the distance. "Nothing ever is," he responded. Leo had learned a long time ago that being a mutant wasn't simple or easy to begin with, but being a mutant turtle born into a predominantly human family felt almost impossible. "-they were right about me, you were right about me. It seems no matter what I do, I cause pain and misery."  
  
Splinter damned nothing more than his past and Leo's words had taken him back to his time as an arrogant human and the day Leonardo was born.  
  
A tiny helpless child, screaming for his mother and all the Hamato clan could see was his mutation; his tiny green figure, the shell on his back, the three toes on his feet and the three fingers on his hands. Leo's mutation had been seen as a bad omen, despite the circumstances on which it happened. Leo was deemed a yokai, or more specifically, a Kappa. A malicious turtle creature of Japanese folklore. As his father refused to do so, the duty to dispose of him had fallen to Splinter and he thought he had until two years ago when they met again. There was no denying that those blue eyes belonged to the same child he had cast into the depths. "That is your ancestors speaking. They were wrong to have judged you so prematurely as an infant, I was wrong. You cried for your mother, just as any other child would."  
  
"I was probably hungry." It was hard to watch the optimism fade from Leo's eyes, to watch him lose faith in himself. His dream of becoming a hero like captain Ryan was being demolished and that confident grin he used to have before taking his troops out on patrol no longer appeared, instead it had been replaced by turmoil and a permanent feeling of being lost.  
  
"You were and are just a boy looking for a place in this world, as we all are."  
  
“I thought this was the place with other mutants but... look at your sons..." Leo turned his head, looking at his brothers, "-your daughter. I've cost you so much."  
  
The usually wise and sage rat was at a loss for words. He didn't/he wouldn't blame Leonardo for any of this. No child should feel this way about themselves and their existence. "My sons are home. They are safe and Miwa will be found again. Why must you blame yourself?"  
  
"You asked me to protect them."  
  
"And you are doing that to the best of your abilities." Splinter's words did nothing to comfort Leo. No matter how hard he trained, he couldn't change his past, he couldn't change that he had betrayed his father and now his father wanted vengeance on the family who in his words had brainwashed him.  
  
Leo squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. "I don't think my abilities are enough."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Donnie asked, making it apparent that the two slightly younger turtles had been listening the entire time. The genius turtle limped over to the entrance while being mindful of his injuries. "You got us out of there in one piece."  
  
"Barely." It was an extremely close call out there. Raph and Donnie were on the ground with the Shredder standing over them, he was he was milliseconds from striking when Leo suddenly threw a smoke bomb at his father. Leo couldn't stop replaying his father's words. 'I will destroy you for what you have done to my son.' So clearly could he see the terrified look on Donnie's face and the fear that Raph tried to hide. All of it was still so fresh in his mind.  
  
"Yeah, but that's not your fault."  
  
"I left my father. This, is my fault."  
  
"Raph, you wanna jump in here?" Donnie said. Raph hadn't moved or even turned around. "-Raph?"  
  
Raph held his wounded wrist. He had been thinking while the others were talking. "What can I say?" He asked. "The prince is still conflicted even after his father almost ripped out his eye."  
  
Leo's heart sank at the word 'prince', he had heard it all his life.  
  
Raphael, after two years and everything they had been through together still did not fully trust the former Foot soldier, at least not as much as the others did anyway but Leo couldn't blame him. His father was the only blood he had left, it had been hard to leave him and watch him fall further down the destructive rabbit hole. This made Raph keep a cynical distance and a continuous eye on the appointed leader of the Hamato clan.  
  
"You don't understand, Raph." Leo spoke lowly. "You have no idea what my father did for me."  
  
"Well maybe if you told us, we'd get it." Donnie responded.  
  
Leo and Splinter exchanged glances with one another, Raph and Donnie didn't know the story of Leo's birth. They were worried about their reaction to their father's misconduct as a younger man. "Forget it Donnie, he's not gonna tell us." Raph interrupted the silent conversation the two elders of the clan were having. "Lets face it, he's always gonna be this way, if he's not a hundred percent sure on his loyalty then maybe..." Raph sighed, with a heavy heart, despite not being able to fully trust Leo, he still looked to him as an older brother, confiding in him whenever it necessary, "-he shouldn't be here."  
  
With a heavy sigh Leo removed his katana from their holster on his back and held them out to Splinter.  
  
"Leonardo." Splinter reached out for the oldest turtle.  
  
"Don't. Please..." Leo waved Splinter off.  
  
"Leo!" Donnie called after the distraught turtle but it made little difference. "The Foot are still out there."  
  
"Leonardo, you shouldn't be alone."  
  
"I'm going for a run." Leo wasn't turning back, he ran before his mind could be changed.  
  
"Let him go Donnie," Raph said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "-it was bound to happen sooner or later."  
  
Splinter then made his way back into the lair. "Do you think he'll come back?" Donnie asked looking toward his Sensei for answers.  
  
"I believe something will bring him back but what that will be, only time will tell." Splinter made his way to the dojo, his eyes remained on the swords in his hands as he was taken back to the day he'd given them to a newly enrolled Leonardo. _"These are the swords your father once wielded when he was a member of this clan and now I pass them on to you."_ He remembered Leo's face lighting up when this honour was given to him. _"Oroku- Tang Leonardo, you are now a ninja of the Hamato clan."_ And from that day forward Leonardo strived to prove himself as an honourable leader for the Hamato clan.

Leo had been running through the city for what felt like hours now but maybe that was the grief. Taking his usual running track, he did laps, jumping across rooftops until he finally got tired. As if he didn't feel bad enough, turning to his right, he found that he had stopped on the rooftop opposite the Foot headquarters. "Crap, I really can't escape it."  
  
Being cold-blooded it didn't long for Leo to start to feel the early spring chill that came with the wind, it thudded against his shell, hitting him in spots that sent bitter chills crawling up his spine. "Couldn't have grabbed my jacket." His brain started to argue against his choice even though for weeks it had been telling him to do so otherwise. Sighing heavily, Leo watched the changing of the guards on his father's roof.  
  
He remembered a time so fondly when none of this was needed.   
  
Leo grew up in a rural area just outside of New York, the house sat on the edge of a cliff over looking a glorious view of a river that flowed below. Thinking about that place made the dispirited turtle long for the days of climbing trees, waking up to the early bird's call, growing his own food in the garden, the fresh smell of pancakes every Sunday morning and snowball fights in the winter that resulted in cosying up by the fire with hot cocoa. He missed the father that read bedtime stories and built forts with him.  
  
What frustrated Leo the most was how much he cared about both sides of this war. It was tearing him apart; his father loved him and raised him, taught him everything he knew while giving him everything he could ever want or need. Splinter, on the other hand gave him a reason to fight and defend the world against those who sort to destroy it. "They don't need me. All I've ever done is make things worse." Leo often spoke to himself allowed, it wasn't much different than when he was talking to the others. Pulling his knees to his chest, Leo felt his eyes well up. ”I wish I had never been born.”  
  
"Then the ones known as the Turtles would not be the ones to save the planet known as Earth."  
  
Leo whipped around after hearing what sound like a Kraang talking. He instinctively went to take out his Katana but they were gone, he'd left them with Splinter. He balled his hands into fists holding them up ready for a fight. "Who's there?" He demanded.  
  
The stranger stepped out of the shadows to reveal themselves as another turtle...  
  
It was the same disbelief Leo had expressed when he first met Donatello and Raphael two years ago. Another turtle was stood before him.  
  
"Do not be what is called alarmed." The stranger stepped forward with their hands held up, showing that they meant no harm. "-Ax'el should not have done what is called snuck up on you."  
  
Standing wide-eyed, Leo was at a complete loss for words.  
  
The turtle apparently named Ax'el was tall and slender possibly taller than Donatello, they lacked much of any mass and or colour, they looked more like a turtle than him, with blotches of brown decorating his face. If Leo had to guess from his timid body language the Kraang had raised him but as a prisoner rather than one of their own. “No, it's not that, it's...you’re another turtle.”  
  
Ax'el tilted his head. "Ax'el is a what is called a Terrapathian."  
  
"You're an alien?"  
  
"Terrapathian."  
  
This was unreal, Leo fell silent again, he started to question whether was actually awake, perhaps he hadn't made it out of the fight against his father, maybe he had knocked out and this was all a dream.  
  
"Is the one called turtle the Earth term known as okay?" The new turtle stepped forward placed an oddly gloved hand on Leo's shoulder and immediately, he started to feel the effects of some kind of substance taking over his body. His arm was the first to go numb.  
  
"What..?" Leo slurred unable to control his mouth before falling forward in to the arms of his apparent assailant. The last thing he heard was an empathetic apology before everything turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

"You did good kid, real good," Ax'el could only give a small forced smile to his master. His whole life he'd been told of the perfect mutant and for weeks he had been trying to track him down. Finally, there he was but something didn't sit right the young Terrapathian. "-you and Leonardo are about to make the Kraang much more powerful."

The words and the way Kraang Subprime spoke sounded less and less like the wonderful chance he had originally been promised.

Feeling a tentacle on his shoulder sent a shiver of resentment down Ax'el shell. With a deep and remorseful sigh, he watched on with closest thing he had to a father as an unconscious Leonardo was laid and secured to an operating table. It was only a window and his shameful cowardice keeping him from helping someone who sounded to be more of a hero now that he thought about it. If only he had seen it earlier.

"Perhaps we could up your rations tonight."

Ax'el said nothing in response to Kraang Subprime.

"What's that look for kid?"

Without a thought to his action, Ax'el placed his favoured hand on the window. So many feelings unfamiliar to him circled his stomach. "What are you going to do to with the one known as Leonardo?"

"Don't worry it's nothing he can't handle thanks to his mutation."

Ax'el was conflicted and confused.

"Leonardo has two sets of reproductive organs male and female, because he's male his female organs are dormant right, we're gonna wake them up." Kraang Subprime cackled, while holding up a syringe. "Then on to stage two." Another syringe was taken into the grip of Kraang Subprime's mechanical hand. This was it, Kraang Subprime was going to get the army he so desired, a better, more tolerable and capable army and he had done everything for this and had waited long enough.

"Something doesn't seem what is called right." Ax'el said, his nerves getting the best of him.

Kraang Subprime rolled his eyes. "Take him back to his cell. I can't..." he turned ordering the two officers behind them guarding the door. The two officers stepped forward, each of them taking an arm leading the Terrapathian out. There was no point in struggling, Ax'el preferred to be back in his cell, at least he wouldn't have to watch the show as Kraang Subprime liked to call it.

As Ax'el was taken down the hallway he felt ever more like a prisoner. He thought about how he got here. He was only small, a hatchling. Terrapathians, unlike any other creature can retain memories from a year old and that was how old he was when he was forced from the planet where he was born, Sauropsida. He remembers his mother placing him inside a pod with the only possession he owns, his blanket. From then it was dark until his pod opened and Kraang Subprime was looking down at him with a menacing grin.

Suddenly, Ax'el was snapped from his thoughts when the door opened, revealing the four walls that he was forced to call home.

Finally, much to the unfortunate delight of Kraang Subprime, Leonardo began to rouse from his drug induced sleep. He felt disoriented from whatever drug had been used to knock him out, but, he could tell that he was stuck on his back, bound to an operating table leaving him paralysed. "Ever have that feeling when you wake and you have no idea where you are?"

Leo's mind and hearing were foggy but he instantly recognised the ear blistering noise that was Kraang Subprime's voice. "I would rather hear nails on a chalk board than your voice."

"Oof, straight for thing I can't control."

"Why am I here?" Leo queried while struggling against the bonds that held him down firmly to the table. Almost fifteen years of ninja training with two of the greatest warriors in centuries, one of them being his father and this was how he was defeated. “Why does my leg hurt?”

"Those morons clamped your skin between the cuffs.” As much as he liked to see Leo hurt, he couldn't revel in it too much, Leo was an asset he needed and he needed for him to be perfectly healthy. “You're not getting out of that. Your gear has been taken away no keep in touch device and no weapons. I bet this makes you feel like a turtle on his back." Kraang Subprime enjoyed being able to mock his enemy, he smirked, running one of his tentacle appendages over Leo's stomach, creeping the turtle out even more.

"What have you done to me?"

"Nothing yet." The Kraang raised his robotic arm moving a large spherical device. Leo couldn't do anything but watch as the pieces were connected to it. He shuddered upon seeing a syringe being toyed with and Kraang Subprime smiled. "What don't you like needles?" Leo was pretty sure he'd had a nightmare like this before. There was no way he was getting out of this, however, he’d rather it be him than either Donatello or Raphael.

"Not particularly."

Kraang Subprime could laugh out loud. “Your father has been training you since birth with swords and other stabby things and yet needles...” 

Leo said nothing, he continued to squirm, trying to break free from the bonds. Kraang Subprime smirked, running one of his tentacle appendages over Leo's stomach, creeping the turtle out even more.

“You’re not going anywhere.” After a few adjustments the device was complete, with the syringe inside. Strangely, the point was aimed at Leo’s stomach. No amount of struggling was doing anything as the device started to move, lowering its self. “This is gonna happen.” The Kraang stated with no teasing. 

Leo shuddered in fearful anticipation of what was yet to come. His mind began to race as the tip inched closer and closer to his stomach. He squirmed again trying remove the restraints but they weren't budging, he forced his eyes shut and his body tensed. With every second that passed, the needle drew nearer and nearer to its target. “No, no, no." He begged.

Eventually, the needle rammed itself deep into Leo's plastron, breaking through his plastron reaching into the skin it protected underneath causing the turtle an intense amount of pain. He might as well have been stabbed with a blade. "AAAAHHH!" The contents of the injection drained into Leo's stomach giving Kraang Subprime more than enough hope.

Sat on the slab he had to call a bed, Ax’el pulled his knees to his chin and breathed a heavy sigh in anguish. Hours had passed and what was happening to Leo was because of him, he should have run, he should have left Leo on the roof where he found him. 

On the other hand, Ax’el felt tiniest bit of excitement. He was going to be a father after all.

Ax’el was suddenly snapped from his thoughts when the door swiftly opened. Two guards, possibly the same two that had brought Ax’el back brought a wounded Leo inside, dropping him on the floor as if was just a pile of garbage. 

"You should be what is called careful."

The two Kraang said nothing, shrugging it off. The door closed once again, leaving Leo and Ax’el alone. 

"Turtle known as Leonardo are you--"

"I'm fine." Leo grunted, waving Ax'el off and lifted himself up. He ached all over, his stomach and his never regions were especially tender.

“I am what is called sorry.” Ax’el said while helping Leo to the bed. 

"I can't blame you. You’re a prisoner, you were just doing what you could.”

Ax'el gave a small smile, he still felt dirty for the deed he had done.

"How long have they held you here?"

For as long as he could remember, Ax'el had been kept in these four walls, knowing very little of the world he lived on. He couldn’t tell how long it had been since he was a hatchling. “Ax’el has been in the place known a here since he was what is called small.” 

“There’s no denying that.” Leo grumbled under his breath, referring to the way both Ax’el and the Kraang spoke. A sharp pain ran upwards beginning in between his legs caught Leo off guard all of a sudden as he tried to sit up from the bed wanting to look around the room for a way to escape. His hand grasped the area hoping to alleviate it with the slightest bit of pressure. “Oh ah. What did the do to me?”

Ax’el should have told Leo what was happening but a small voice in his head told him otherwise, instead Ax’el suggested that he get some rest.

“I need to get out. I need my Ugh stuff.” Checking out what ached, Leo found blood dripping from his cloaca, it wasn’t a lot just enough to know that something had happened down there. “What?” His lifted his head to look at Ax’el. 

Ax’el shook his head, his heart began to race fearing Leo’s anger and it wasn’t even aimed at him, however there was enough for the blue clad turtle to push through the pain and stand up. Ax’el had been at the brunt end of rage too many times, he feared Leo turning on him. There were markings around his neck Leo realised when he turned to see his cellmate. The webbing between his fingers had been hacked at, his shell had more tears and chunks taken out if than Raphael had. The way he coward from Leo like a child. “You’re strong, you carried me here didn’t you?”

Ax’el shook his head.

“Have you ever fought back?”

Ax’el shook his head again.

“Well hopefully...”

As if on cue, interrupting Leo’s sentence, an alarm sounded alerting the Kraang and their prisoners of an intruder or perhaps intruders. The sound of hissing followed, the vents had been opened spilling gas into the room. Within seconds both turtles were out to prevent them from calling for help.

Under the orders of two Sauropodian soldiers, the Mutanimals burst into the base, charging and pushing back against the Kraang, forcing them out of the way so then the rest of the clan and their new friends could search the cloister of cells for their missing comrades. 

“Not in this one!” Donatello called, while peering into one of the cells though the window in the door. 

“Not here!” Raph said.

“They have to be here, I've got a ping on Leo’s phone!”

“If you’re from the same planet can’t you like sniff your guy out?” Casey called.

“We are Salamanderians, coming from the same planet doesn't mean anything like that.” One of the Salamanderians, Captain Y’Vlan barked with an intimating practised grimace on his face. “-I could ask for the same of you.” For years, the people the planet once called Sauropsida had been searching for all their evacuated children. Ax’el was the last to bring home and their most important, he was next in line to the thrown. Ax'el had also been the hardest to find leaving little expectation for the Salamanderians despite the DNA trail.

“Found them!” April called.

“The Kraang must have silenced them, should have known we’d find them.” Donnie suggested.

Sargent Z’Engarl took a small explosive before Donnie could even attempt to hack the door. “Away from the door.”

“Wait, I can...” Donnie tried to protest but the device was already attached to the door and set to blow.

When the smoke cleared, the team stepped inside the cell. Leonardo and Ax’el lay unconscious on the ground, positioned in a way that suggests Leo had been affected by the toxin first. “They’re breathing,” Donnie said, pressing a finger against each of the turtles’ necks. “-they must been knocked out to silence them.”

Captain Y’Vlan looked down at his ward with a look of disappointment. “Captain, we can rejoice, there is hope for Salamanderia.” The sergeant argued.

The captain shook his head. “He is barely worthy enough to call himself a prince.”

The Earthlings refused to intervene and were thankfully interrupted when Donnie’s phone started to ring. “Hey, we got ‘em. Okay. Two minutes.” the conversation was over just as soon as it started. “We’ve two minutes, this place is gonna blow.”

“Let’s move.” Raph ordered, picking Leo up, hoisting him over his shoulders. 

Leo's eyes slowly flickered open, blinking quickly adjusting to another form of lighting that surrounded him. He was still dazed after being drugged but he knew this time he wasn't with the Kraang. This time he felt warm presence surrounding him. His head was resting on a pillow. The scent of it was familiar and easing. “If you’re gonna sit up, do it slowly the sedative is still in your system.” That was definitely Donatello’s voice, Leo thought.

“Ugh, my head.” Leo groaned, moving his hands to cover his sensitive eyes. 

“As Donatello said, the sedative is still in your system.” That was Splinter’s voice and it came from above him.

Slowly and steadily, Leo sat himself up. With every movement to get him into the upright position, the injured turtle felt more than just his headache. His stomach screamed making him regret even trying. There was no bruising over his plastron but he was sure there had to be markings on his stomach underneath. “What did they do to you?”

“I don’t know, they injected something into my stomach and then I kinda blacked out.” Leo could feel his face heating up as he realised how many of his friends had been there to rescue him.

"Some things never change."

Leo’s heart practically skipped a beat when he heard a voice he'd longed to hear for a while. His head perked up looking for the culprit of his sudden burst of happiness. “Karai!” He beamed, being over the moon when he laid eyes upon the one he once called his sister.

"I wish this reunion was under different circumstances." Karai responded.

Leo gave a small smile. "I'm just glad you're home."

"You too."

"What happened? The last thing I remember was... Axel." Leo gasped turning toward the two younger turtles. A vague feeling of dread conjured itself in the pit of Leo's stomach. "Please tell me you didn't leave him there."

Raph and Donnie exchanged glances with one another. "These two lizard people took him, they said he was a prince from their planet or something."

Stranger things had happened in the past to the turtles and their comrades, so no one was expecting too much of a reaction from Leo. “Oh, ” was all he could say.

“The Kraang were sure unhappy to lose you two.” April entered the conversation, exiting the kitchen with a cup of steaming tea. She had sensed the ache in Leo’s stomach and thought he could use something to soothe the soreness.

"Thanks." Leo said, taking the mug from his friend.

Sleep wouldn't come to Leo that night.

While everyone else was cosy and warm in their beds finding that sleep came easier to them after such a riveting night, Leo was in the kitchen nursing a mug of warm milk. He tried not to think of the events that had previously transpired, he tried not to think about what the Kraang had possibly done to him, he tired not to see that look on Kraang Subprime's face when he first opened his eyes in the Kraang base, however every time he closed his eyes he saw Kraang Subprime's face and that giant needle leering down at him, he could only imagine what had happened to him after he blacked out. Whatever had been done to him was going to haunt him, he was sure of it.

Sighing heavily, Leo took another swig of milk.

"Does warm milk still work on you?" As it had been completely silent and as he was tired, Leo jumped at sound of another voice. He lifted his head to see Karai in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms folded across her chest.

Leo hummed, swirling his drink around. "It was worth a shot."

Karai took a seat on the stool opposite Leo. She didn't have to know him for as long as she did to know that there was clearly something wrong, something was clearly troubling him. "Father says that you've been conflicted lately."

Leo shrugged. "I just... I don't know what to do anymore."

“You used to like having your shell rubbed.” Karai cheekily grinned at the mopey turtle opposite her. Leo gave a small smile in return.

“Not what I meant.”

“I know.” The kunoichi kept her eye on the slash that clearly cut across her brother’s eye, despite having been told beforehand of what happened and how he got the scar, Karai wanted to ask and try to start a conversation. She wanted to help get him past these conflictions and ease his clouded mind. “-What happened to your eye, or is it just your head?”

“It’s nothing,” Leo said, shifting in his seat. Karai knew him well enough that when he lied, his eye twitched, it wasn't an obvious twitch but she could see it. Leo couldn't lie to her, “something like this was bound to happen to me at some point.”

“Not by your father Leo.” She couldn't stop herself.

Damn, Leo thought to himself. “They told you didn't they?”

“They told me that you were thinking about leaving, they told me that Shredder had you pinned against a wall and yet you still consider the idea of going back.” Karai could feel her protective big sister instincts climbing their way to the surface. Leo may not her brother but that was the way she saw him, how could she not, they had been raised together. She remembered cheering him on when he took his first steps, trying to make him say her name, holding him up as he reached for the cookie jar, his first snowball fight. When they first fought each other for real, it hurt more than any of the ways she got her physical scars.

“He’s my father. Why can't I get that through anyone's head?” Leo watched his reflection of himself in the bottom of the mug. Tears welled in his eyes. “I went through something today and I'm sorry that I want to go back to the days when I was a kid when it was okay for me to hug my father. I'm sorry that I miss that. I'm sorry that I still love him the way a son should despite everything he's done.”

Karai was quick to wrap Leo in her arms, holding him as he cried on her shoulder. Tears rolled down her own face, something she hadn’t done in a long time. “I don't wanna fight anymore, I can't, I can't.”

“We’ll find a way...”

“I just can't fight anymore. I'll do anything.”


End file.
